


The Intern

by dragontreasure26



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Office, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-09-17 05:29:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragontreasure26/pseuds/dragontreasure26
Summary: Stiles, fresh out of college, gets an internship at Alpha Fitness and soon finds himself working as CEO Derek Hale's personal assistant. Stiles soon finds out that not everyone in Derek's life wants to see him succeed and is determined to help him see those people for who they really are.Inspired and loosely based on the 2015 film "The Intern" with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles nervously adjusted the collar of his shirt before tugging at its hem to try and stretch out the creases, but as soon as he let go the shirt sprang back and the creases somehow looked worse. Stiles sighed, he should have probably run an iron over it before he left his apartment that morning - not exactly the best first impression to be making for the first day of his new job. It didn’t help that he was a little sweaty too, after having run for the bus that morning. “Hey” he said rushing up to the reception desk, bag slung over his shoulder. “I’m uh Stiles – new intern?” he said pushing his bag strap back up his shoulder.

The red-haired woman behind the desk looked up. “Your name again please?” she asked.

“Stiles.”

The receptionist looked down and ran a highly polished nail down the list of names front of her. “I don’t have a Stiles?” she questioned.

“Uh – maybes it’s under Mieczyslaw” Stiles said wincing slighting at the sound of his first name as it left his mouth.

The woman’s eyebrows rose slightly but she checked the list once more. “Ah yes here you are, but let’s stick with … Miles was it?”

“Stiles” he corrected quickly.

“Stiles okay,” the red-head said with a smile. “Take a seat, someone will be down shortly to get all your paperwork done. We have quite a few new interns starting today, but it shouldn’t be too long.”

“Great” Stiles said heading over to the small sofa and taking a seat; he glanced around the swish entrance to the office – an old warehouse that had been converted to an open plan office. Alpha Fitness – a company that designed and sold everything from gym-wear to exercise equipment. Stiles wasn’t exactly the athletic type, but he was fresh out of college, and had been un-employed for a few months just making money with the odd freelance bit of work here and there and so when a paid internship was advertised at this top company only a short bus ride from where he lived he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Glancing through the glass walls he could see people busy working and smiled at the buzz of the workplace, knowing soon it would be his workplace and they would be his co-workers. He couldn’t wait to get started, he’d been stuck in his crappy apartment working alone for the past few months and was desperate to get out and work, to meet people.

“Miles?” Asked a very smartly dressed guy upon entering the reception area.

“Uh it’s Stiles actually, nice to meet you” Stiles said getting up and extending out a hand.

“Right, yes sorry, come with me,” he said ignoring his hand and heading off. Stiles quickly followed. Once quick look at the name on the guys office door Stiles found him to be called Peter Hale and from his reading about the company Stiles remembered him to be one of the company’s senior managers.

“Right let’s just get the paperwork done and then I’ll show you to your desk” Peter told him.

“Can’t wait to get started” Stiles replied eagerly.

Peter glanced up, his eyes darting over Stiles. “Well you sure are full of pep, that’s what we need around here kid.”

Stiles just smiled back politely, not sure if he liked the idea of being called kid – still it seemed he was on Peter’s good side which was a plus.

\----

An hour and a half later Stiles was bored, he’d been shown to his desk and had been waiting on an IT guy to show up to get his staff log-in sorted out. However, it did give him a chance to meet the other interns – there were 8 of them all-together. Stiles swung around on his seat, tapping his pencil against the arm of his chair. “So when will they actually let us get started? I mean all I’ve done today is set up my email” he said with a yawn.

Scott, a fellow newbie, shrugged. “I don’t know … I hope it’s not always this slow around here” he said. Stiles and Scott glanced through the open plan office, it looked pretty busy …perhaps they’d just been forgotten about.

“Oh, look who it is!” Alison, the intern sat next to Stiles, said under her breath as she nodded to a guy walking through the office.

“Who?” Stiles asked not so subtly peering over the top of his monitor.

“Derek Hale, the CEO” Alison replied.

“Oh, so he’s the big boss?” Stiles said watching him walk with a confident stride.

“I’ve read all about him, he’s pretty remarkable” Alison sighed wistfully. “Only 27 and look at all he’s achieved.”

“Whilst I still haven’t even moved out of my parent’s basement” Scott grumbled.

Stiles just smiled at Scott. “I’m sure he had help, you’re doing just fine.”

“Cheers bud, but I don’t think so, not compared to him anyway – that guy’s one of the richest guys under 30 in America” Scott told him. “Built a whole business empire while we were still in slugging our way through college.”

Stiles just rolled his eyes. “I bet there is more to it than that” he replied glancing over at Derek.

\---

Another un-eventful half hour passed, Stiles and Scott had grown weary of sitting at their desks and so had taken a tour around the office. When they arrived back they found Peter Hale waiting for them.

“Right interns listen up” Peter said approaching their huddle of desks. “Unfortunately for both me and you I’ve been put in charge of you lot.” Stiles eyebrow rose – what a compliment he thought. “You’re going to hit the ground running, each of you will be assigned a specific area of the company to work in and assigned a mentor to work with. It will be a lottery unless anyone has any extra special requests. You’ll receive an email shortly letting you know where you’ll be posted and who your mentor is so get back to your desks, chop chop,” he said to Scott and Stiles as he clapped his hands together impatiently.

“Uh Mr Hale” Stiles said catching him before he left. “I’d like to be placed with marketing if that’s possible?”

“Marketing eh?” Peter said crossing his arms and looking Stiles up and down. “Yes I remember that from your application, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks” Stiles grinned before returning to his desk.

Shortly all the intern’s inboxes pinged signalling the arrival of new mail. “I’m in the photo studio, magazine section” Alison said with a sigh. “I’m not sure I want to be dressing stick thin models with their heads up their ass” she grumbled.

Scott smiled at her. “Better than me, I got office logistics – you know what that means right?”

“Mail, coffee and doughnut runs?” Stiles guessed.

“Bingo” Scott groaned. “What did you get?”

“It just says personal assistant, mentor un-assigned” Stiles sighed. “I mean a PA? Really? What happened to the marketing job I asked for? I bet Peter did this on purpose.”

“PA for who?” Alison asked. Stiles just shrugged in response.

“You, come, follow me” the red-haired receptionist from that morning said to Stiles rather impatiently.

Stiles got up, he glanced back at Scott and Alison a bit perplexed. “Guess I’ll find out” he said before he followed the receptionist. Stiles soon found out her name was Lydia Martin and she had got a job at Alpha Fitness as her boyfriend, Jackson Whittemore, was one of their models.

“Mr Hale, this is your new intern Myc Myc -” Lydia struggled.

“Mieczyslaw Genim Stilinski” Stiles said thrusting out his hand.

Derek looked him up and down, a little taken a back. “That’s a pretty unique name” he said with a curious smile as he grabbed his hand and shook it. “What is that Russian?” he asked.

“Polish” Stiles replied. “But everyone just calls me Stiles.”

“Derek Hale.”

“Yes I know” Stiles nodded quickly, but not wanting him to realise that he and the other interns had spent the morning gossiping about him he quickly covered his tracks. “Your face is everywhere after all” he said nodding toward the large framed publicity photos and magazine covers that adorned the walls of Derek’s office and the rest of the building come to think of it.

Derek followed his eye line. “Yes I suppose it is" he agreed. "A little egotistical some might think but I like to personally ensure that every items is top notch quality, plus is saves a lot of money on hiring models if I do it myself” he said. “I’m joking of course” he said glancing at Lydia knowing full well who she was dating.

“Well the CEO is the face of the company, I’m glad you are taking that quite literally” Stiles replied glancing again at the pictures – a lot of them of Derek modelling the gym wear. All of it rather quite tight fitting he couldn’t help but notice. Focus Stiles, he told himself.

“So I didn’t know we had new batch of interns?” Derek said glancing at Lydia questionably.

“Well I have brought it up at several board meetings” Lydia replied surprisingly crossly. “And I put it as a calendar alert in your diary so it should have pinged through on your phone, tablet, desktop, laptop and your smart watch sir.”

“Right, right, well I’m sure it did” Derek said brushing the issue aside. “Fine, so Stiles what’s your background? What can you bring to my company?” he asked.

“Oh right, well I …” Stiles said not expecting to be asked such a question on the spot. “Well I majored in graphic design and animation, but I’ve got a lot of experience in digital marketing.”

“I’ve got a whole department dedicated to marketing” Derek replied through narrowed eyes. “Why haven’t you been assigned there?”

“I’m not sure, I did request that initially” Stiles replied honestly, kind of hoping that Derek was just re-assign him because he certainly didn’t want to be a PA – no matter how good looking the boss was. “I specialise in social media marketing," he explained. "Actually I’ve taken a look at your accounts this morning – I see that you have a company twitter, facebook and instagram and whilst that's great, really great, professionally speaking, I really feel that if you add a little personal touch it will do wonders for your statistics.”

“How so?” Derek asked moving round the office, clearly his mind was on a hundred and one different tasks at the same time. “Tell me but tell me fast I’ve got to go and check up on a new product line down at the factory, we’re close to launch and I need to make sure everything is right.”

“Well you see that’s exactly what I’m talking about” Stiles replied. “You see Mr Hale your pages are getting a lot of hits, but your subscriber count is low, really low, so you need a new angle to ensure people click that subscription button and see every post.”

Derek pulled a jacket on over his waistcoat and zipped up his briefcase. “What’s your plan?”

“You” Stiles said with a bold smile.

Derek stilled for a moment. “Me?” he asked with intrigue.

Stiles nodded. “People need to get to know you, not just as the CEO of this company but the man behind the good looks, so to speak” he said blushing a little. He caught Lydia roll her eyes out of the corner of his and smile knowingly.

Derek thought about it for a few moments. “Fine, we’ll give it two weeks and then look at the numbers.”

“Great!” Stiles grinned. Two weeks was not a lot of time, but he was confident he could prove himself.

Derek headed for the door, he stopped and turned back to look at Stiles. “You’d better come with me to the warehouse then” he said tossing him some car keys. "I take it you can drive?"

“Yes sir.”

Derek frowned. “Derek is fine.”

“Okay got it” Stiles replied with a grin.

Alison and Scott watched amazed as Stiles followed Derek to the elevator at the end of the open plan office area. Stiles just shrugged his shoulders and grinned back at them before quickly signalling to them that they should meet for drinks and a catch up later – to which they nodded eagerly.

\---

The trip to the warehouse hadn’t gone well; Alpha Fitness were launching a new brand of smart clothing – gym wear designed to work with your body or some rubbish like that, Stiles hadn’t really been listening, but what he had heard was that there was a problem at the factory and they hadn’t met their target in terms of the number of units needed for launch. In fact, only 10% of the merchandise was ready. Derek was pissed, of course he was, a lot of money had gone into the R&D and publicity for this new product and they were going to open the online store for pre-sales in a matter of days. Stiles hung around for a long time whilst Derek spoke on the phone to several different people as well as the manager of the factory. It seemed like hours had passed by the time they’d finally headed back to the car.

Derek exhaled as he sat down in the back of the sleek black range rover. The meeting at the factory had been a tense one and it had clearly taken its toll on Derek. Stiles could see Derek was a fair and decent sort of guy, but pretty ruthless when it came to business and he’d not left without making it clear to the factory foreman what this delay was going to mean for the company’s performance.

Stiles glanced at him nervously through the rear-view mirror, he could feel the waves of stress rolling of him. Derek was on the phone for the first part of the journey arranging an emergency meeting back at the office the following morning for all those involved in the launch of the new product. After that they drove on in silence.

“Uh Mr Hale?” Stiles said glancing at Derek.

Derek sighed. “It’s Derek” he reminded Stiles as he put down his tablet.

“Sorry, Derek” Stiles corrected himself. “I was just going to say that … well if you need to vent, I know a good place?” he offered.

Derek’s eyes narrowed, and he thought about it for a few moments. “I’m listening” he replied finding his new intern very intriguing indeed.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“The batting cages?” Derek questioned recognising the place as soon as Stiles pulled the car to a stop outside. “Awesome!” he grinned jumping out eagerly.

Stiles smiled to himself as he switched off the engine. “I saw you had a signed baseball in your office so I figured you were a fan” he said to Derek as he followed him inside.

“My dad and I used to come here all the time when I was a kid” Derek told him as he soaked in the familiarity of the building. “I haven’t been for years though ….” he added with a wistful sigh. “I’m just always so busy.”

Stiles saw a flicker of regret cross Derek’s face. “You still should make time for yourself” he told him. “It would be good to de-stress.”

Derek sighed as he came to a stop. “Perhaps I should head back to the office?” he said, although Stiles could tell from his tone of voice that he really didn’t want to. “I mean this whole product launch is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Stiles shook his head. “You’ve already called ahead and got your best people working on it, an hour won’t do any harm, besides you’ll probably be in a better head place to sort it out when you get back.”

Derek studied Stiles as he thought for a moment. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“Of course I am” Stiles said with a confident smile before he headed over to the desk. “One please” he said to the guy behind the counter.

“You’re not joining me?” Derek asked.

Stiles laughed. “Me?! I’m about as co-ordinated as a baby giraffe. No trust me, if you want to keep those pearly whites of yours intact then you’ll want me away from any bats and balls.”

Derek laughed. “Fair enough” he said handing over his card to pay. “I’ll let you off this time, but next time I want to see what you’re made of. I’m sure I can help you with your co-ordination.”

“You’re on” Stiles grinned.

They made their way to the batting cages and Derek shed his suit jacket and tie. “Wow you really mean business” Stiles said watching as Derek rolled up his sleeves.

Derek laughed. “I never do things by half measures!”

Stiles watched as he stepped in the cage; he soon found out that Derek was a pro. He watched him hit every ball that the automatic pitcher spat at him. Stiles couldn’t help but smile – Derek was grinning from ear to ear and was clearly enjoying every second, he could practically see the stress rolling off of him. Stiles pulled out his camera and took a few snaps – he knew this would be perfect for Alpha Fitness’s social media pages.

“Feeling better?” Stiles asked when Derek stepped out of the cage a little while later.

Derek nodded as he shook out his shoulders. “It doesn’t fix the problem with the new produce launch though does it, I’ve still got to face that when we get back to the office.”

“True” Stiles agreed. “But I have an idea about that.”

“An idea? Stiles we’re three days away from launch and we don’t have enough product to shift” Derek reminded him. “Even if they did manage to get their hands on the raw materials they’re not going to make any more product for weeks.”

“I’m working on a plan” Stiles told him. “It’s going to be fine.”

Derek sighed, he really would love to believe Stiles. “I’d like to trust you to fix this, but I can’t take that risk” he told him. “I’ve arrange an emergency meeting in the morning, bring your idea to the table in the morning and I’ll hear it out then.”

Stiles nodded. “Sure” he agreed.

Derek glanced at the clock. “There is still five minutes left” he said holding out the bat to Stiles. “Your turn” he grinned encouragingly.

Stiles eyes grew wide. “No no!” he cried flushing in embarrassment. “I wasn’t exaggerating earlier, I really am awful!”

Derek grabbed one of the helmets from the rack and pushed it onto Stiles head. “Let me at least see what we’re working with here” he said shoving Stiles toward the door to the cage. “I am your boss remember, you can’t exactly say no.”

Stiles sighed. “Fine but don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Derek closed the cage door and leaned against it. “I’ll put the pitching speed down” he said pressing a couple of buttons on the control panel next to the door.

“Yeah I don’t think that will help much” Stiles grumbled to which Derek just chuckled. The first ball shot out of the machine and Stiles of course missed, nearly dropping his bat in the process. Derek howled with laughed. “Shut up! I told you I was no good!” Stiles cried through his own laughter.

“Sorry sorry!” Derek wheezed. “Go on try again” he encouraged.

Stiles managed to get the second ball with the very corner of his bat, but there was little power behind the strike and the ball just landed a few feet away from him. “Better” Derek encouraged. “You need to adjust your stance a bit, here let me show you” he said pausing the machine before entering the cage.

Stiles couldn’t help but swallow as Derek too him by the hips and twisted his body around slightly before taking his elbow and raising it. “There try that” Derek said before heading out the cage. Stiles was glad Derek was focused on his stance, because one look at his face and he knew he’d see he was beet red. When did it suddenly get so hot in here? he wondered. Stiles was so lost in his thoughts that he barely even registered the third ball fly toward him. It flew right passed him and hit the net behind him.

Derek laughed once more. “I’m not sure how but that actually made things worse!” he chuckled.

A buzzer sounded signalling their time was up. Stiles was very much relieved to get out of the cage, he tore off his helmet and hung it up before heading back through the building to the car. “Thanks Stiles” Derek said re-doing his tie before he climbed in to the back of the car. “I haven’t had a good time like that for a long time, I really needed that.”

“No problem at all” Stiles replied as he started up the engine, he was feeling rather pleased with himself – not bad going for his first day. “Back to reality now then?” he asked glancing at Derek in the rear-view mirror.

Derek sighed and nodded. “I suppose so.”

\---

When they arrived back Derek headed straight to his office with a worried looking Peter and numerous other staff members in tow – clearly they’d heard what had happened at the factory. Stiles, not sure what to do since Derek had been swept up by various people the moment they entered the office just headed to his desk and started to work on his idea for the product launch.

The rest of the afternoon passed relatively un-eventfully for Stiles. As Derek’s PA (even if it was just on a trial basis for now) Stiles thought he should to be doing but  although there was a lot of commotion in the office he hadn't been asked to do anything by anyone … had received no emails or phone calls and no one even approached his desk. Stiles knew it would take time, he was new and so nobody knew who he was or what his role was. He decided he’d go and get Derek some lunch since he hadn’t eaten all day and so headed over to Lydia at the reception to find out what he liked to eat.

“How should I know?” Lydia asked impatiently.

“Well you work here, I don’t want to disturb him as he’s got an office full of people right now" Stiles explained.

Lydia shrugged. “I don’t know, the guy just seems to run on caffeine.”

“Well you’re helpful aren’t you?” Stiles teased. “Guess I’ll just have to decide on my own.”

“Great, well you can leave me in peace then” Lydia told him.

Stiles rolled his eyes at her, she certainly was fiery. “You and I will be best friends by the end of the week you’ll see” he told her confidently.

Lydia just smirked. “Yeah yeah, in your dreams. See you later Miles” she said deliberately calling him the wrong name to wind him up. Stiles just laughed as he left the office.

\---

“Here you go princess” Stiles said putting a packet of chocolate limes down on Lydia's desk when he returned to the office 20 minutes later. “Sour on the outside and sweet on the inside, reminded me of you” he told her.

Lydia grinned happily. “Thanks!" she said leaning over the desk and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I need the sugar rush."

Stiles just smiled. “Told you we’ll be best friends soon” he reminded her.

"Hey, hope you're not hitting on my girlfriend" A guy from behind the desk said. Stiles figured this was her boyfriend Jackson.

"Ignore him" Lydia said to Stiles. "Besides he's gay" she said to Jackson.

"How did you know that?" Stiles asked, he'd not mentioned his sexuality to anyone in the office.

"Oh hunny, it's obvious" Lydia told him. "And even if it wasn't I've got a sixth sense for these things."

"Hmm" Stiles replied. "Maybe I don't want to be friends with you afterall" he told her.

Lydia chuckled. “Well you definitely won't when you’ve heard what I have to say” she replied popping one of the chocolate limes into her mouth. “Derek’s usual driver has a sprained ankle so you’re going to have to take over his duties” she said handing him a set of keys. “Pick up is 6.30am, I’ll share his calendar with you so you know where to be and when for his appointments this week.”

“What? Why me?” Stiles asked as the keys where shoved into his hand.

“You’re his PA aren’t you?” Lydia replied.

“Intern” Stiles grumbled sighed heavily before heading back to his desk. He quickly filled in Alison and Scott. “Can’t believe I got stuck driving” he said. “I’m an intern not a cab driver.”

“Yeah that sucks, but don’t worry the other guy will be back soon - a sprain won't put him out of action long” Scott told him.

“Just use this as a chance to make a good impression” Alison added.

“I’d rather do that with what I’m good at, actually making a difference for this company” Stiles said glancing at the biography he was writing for Derek’s website displayed on one screen and the plan he had for the new product launch on the other. “How am I suppose to do all this if I’m driving all day?” he said gesturing to his dual monitors.

“Sorry bud” Scott said slapping him on the back as he got up. “But at least you’re not on constant mail duty” he said with a sigh before he headed off at the call of his mentor. Stiles glanced at Scott and smiled apologetically, because poor Scott did seem to have ended up with the worst internship in the company.

Stiles grabbed the carrier bag when he saw Derek’s office door open and the various people in there leave. He quickly got up and headed over. “Uh Derek ...” he said knocking on the door despite it being open.

“Stiles hey” Derek said his face visibly brightening.

Stiles crossed the room. “I bought you some lunch” he said handing over the bag. “I hope you like sushi?”

Derek looked surprised, he opened the bag and pulled out the container. “Wow” he said looking at the huge selection of sushi. “Yeah I love it.”

“Great, well I figured you hadn’t eaten all day so ..." Stiles said just trailing off with a shrug.

“This is perfect thank you” Derek said smiling, though Stiles noticed his face looked exhausted.

“Okay great, well enjoy” Stiles said turning to leave the room.

“You’re not having any? There’s plenty here for two?” Derek said offering the seat in front of his desk to Stiles. “And I like to have company when I eat.”

“Uh- okay, well thanks” Stiles said taking a seat. "If you're not to busy?" he said glancing at the phone on his desk which started to ring.

"Guess I got to eat sometime" Derek said pressing a button to cancel the noise of the phone. He placed the trays of sushi in the middle of his desk and tore open the packets of ginger and wasabi. “Do you like both?” he asked Stiles. Stiles quickly nodded and watched as Derek spread them over the sushi rolls. “I think I have some more chopsticks in here somewhere” he said opening his desk. “Always handy …” he said rummaging. “Ah here we go” he said handing Stiles a packet.

Stiles tore open the packet and pulled out the sticks; they ate in quiet content for a few moments. “Are you vegetarian?” Derek asked noticing Stiles had not touched the rolls containing fish.

“No” Stiles replied. “I’m just not keen on the idea of raw fish” he told him.

Derek just smiled. “More for me then” he said grabbing a salmon roll.

“It was your lunch anyway” Stiles said dipping his cucumber roll into some soy sauce. “But I’ll never turn down free food, guess that’s still me thinking like a student.”

Derek laughed. “Where did you study?” he asked.

 

The conversation flowed through the rest of the lunch and Stiles found himself getting on extremely well with his boss; Derek was a really great guy he found himself thinking as he headed back to his desk. Damn, he thought finding himself crushing on him slightly – he couldn’t let himself get carried away he told himself crossly. That would make things way to problematic.

\----

“You’re still here Stiles?” Derek questioned as he left his office late that evening. “Usually I’m the last one out of the office."

“I’m your new driver, temporarily anyway” Stiles explained. “So when you clock off I clock off" he said with a smile.

“Oh -” Derek said feeling a little bad, he hadn’t known Stiles had been waiting on him. “Right, well I’m ready to leave now if that’s okay with you?" he said glancing at Stiles’s computer screen. "Is this your ideas for the meeting tomorrow?” he asked making a move to get a closer look.

Stiles quickly turned off the monitor so Derek couldn’t see what he’d been working on. “I’d rather leave that until tomorrow if that’s okay?”

“Wanting a grand reveal eh?” Derek asked with intrigue.

“No no” Stiles replied quickly. “It’s just nowhere near ready for anyone to see right now.”

Derek’s eyebrows rose but he nodded. “Fine, have your secrets but I’m looking forward to tomorrow now.”

Stiles suddenly felt a lot of pressure fall on his shoulders and wished he’d kept his mouth shut about having an idea in the first place; he picked up the keys and his bag. “Right so where is home?” he asked.

“I’ll direct you” Derek said making his way out of the building, Stiles following close behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited anxiously outside Derek’s house the following morning; he was still pretty nervous about driving the expensive company car and silently prayed that he wouldn’t have any kind of accident. Stiles’s attention was caught by the sight of Derek jogging down the road toward him. Clearly on a morning run. It was just after 6.30am how had he time to be out jogging this morning? And, it must have been for some time as he’d worked up quite a sweat. Not that Stiles had noticed that of course.

Derek pulled open the door of the range rover and climbed into the back of the car. “Sorry I’m late, hope I didn’t keep you too long” he said grabbing the cold water from the back of the car and chugging it down. “Thanks” he said gesturing to the water.

“No problem, and I’ve only been here a minute or so” Stiles replied. He was happy that he’d had the sense to email Derek’s previous driver and ask if Derek had any particular preferences, the guy had replied to say he always had cold water in the morning as well as a copy of the daily newspaper and a hot cup of coffee. Stiles had decided to add a fresh fruit salad to the mix; he glanced Derek as he grabbed his tablet and started sifting through his email, absent-mindedly nibbling on the fruit, and smiled to himself.  “Straight to the office then?” he asked.

“Yes I’ll shower and change there, I always keep a change of clothes at the office” Derek told him.

“Smart” Stiles replied before driving off. The drove in a comfortable silence, Derek working through his emails whilst sipping his coffee and Stiles concentrating very hard on the road ahead – second guessing everything he did to avoid getting a scratch on the car.

A short while later Stiles pulled into the office’s underground parking lot. “You must have got up early this morning?” he said to Derek as they climbed out. “To get a jog in before work?”

“5.30 like I always do” Derek said with a shrug.

Stiles just nodded as he followed Derek into the office, he glanced at this phone – the last email he’d got from Derek had been at 1.28 in the morning. When did the guy sleep? “Would you mind if I grabbed a picture before you shower?” Stiles asked as they stepped into the lift that took them up to the second floor of the building. “For social media” he added quickly when Derek looked at him questionably – it did sound like an odd request after all. “I just thought it would be good to show that you’re wearing and using Alpha Fitness clothing yourself” he explained.

Derek’s puzzled expression faded. “Oh right, sure” he said glancing down at his jogging gear.

Stiles pulled his camera out of his bag. “Over by the window, the morning light is good there” he said as they stepped out of the elevator.

Derek walked over. “Do you want me to pose?” he asked pulling a few Zoolander faces.

Stiles chuckled and snapped a couple of pics just for fun, because how could he not when Derek pulled a face like that. “Just be natural, and move a little to the left” he directed before taking the proper photographs. “Perfect thanks” he said glancing down at his camera to check the photos were all in focus.

“How is all of that social media stuff going by the way?” Derek asked as they made their way through the office.

“It’s early days, but it’s going well. I’ll prepare a report for you at the end of my two weeks” Stiles told him.

“Sure okay” Derek replied with a nod, he’d completely forgotten Stiles was just a short-term intern, he’d just slotted in so easily it felt like he’d always been apart of the company and office life. “Well I’d best go shower.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with this morning?” Stiles asked.

“I think I can shower by myself” Derek chuckled.

Stiles’s eyes widened. “Oh no I didn’t mean …!” he started to say, completely flustered.

“I’m joking Stiles,” Derek said reaching out and squeezing his arm reassuringly. “I know what you meant and no, you can just carry on with your work. I’ve got a million and one things on my mind but I’m not sure you can help with any of that I’m afraid.”

Stiles just nodded, he knew he wasn’t quite at the stage where he was indispensable to Derek just yet. “Well I’ll be at my desk if you need anything” he told him.

“Great, and I’ll see you in the boardroom at 9.30 if not before” Derek told him before heading off.

Stiles headed over to desk feeling completely an utterly mortified; he pulled up the morning news as he munched on a cereal bar and tried to forget about what had just happened – how embarrassing. When the sting had worn off, he switched to the Alpha Fitness social media pages and was pleased to see his photos from the day before had gained a few hundred likes overnight. Stiles smiled to himself, things were improving slowly but surely and he was positive the snaps of Derek in his gym-wear he’d taken that morning would do wonders.

\---

Nine-thirty came much more quickly than Stiles had anticipated; Scott and Alison had arrived at the office at 9 and the three of them had been chatting when suddenly Stiles spotted a whole heap of people headed to the boardroom which was located not far from the intern’s stations. “Crap I gotta go” Stiles said gathering up his tablet and paperwork. “See you guys later” he said before rushing off.

Stiles piled in behind the rest of the people; the seats in the boardroom were quickly taken up by Peter, Derek and the most of the senior managers and so Stiles just shuffled to one corner and swallowed nervously. Everyone else in the room looked super important and were all in business attire. Stiles on the other hand just had a relatively clean pair of chinos on and a slightly creased Henley. He suddenly felt very out of place.

There was a lot of commotion in the room, talking as well as the odd debate but as soon as Derek stood up the room fell silent; he didn’t even have to say a word to silence them. Clearly he had earned their respect despite being half the age of most of his senior employees. “Right” he said, game face on. “You all know the problem we are facing, we have 3000 units of our new smart gym-wear instead of the initial 500,000 we needed for launch.” Everyone in the room nodded and there were a few grim looking faces. “Now the factory are confident that they will get the rest of the raw materials in by the end of the month get us stocked up for the end of the quarter. Usually in these sorts of situations we would just push the release date but we have spent a lot of time, money and energy into a strong advert campaign for the release of this new product in time for the holiday season. We cannot afford to delay the launch. If we fail to come up with a strategy our customers will lose faith in the our product and our company and that is not something I am prepared to accept.”

Stiles’s eyebrows rose slightly – he could Derek meant business. He liked the way he referred to the company as “ours” instead of “his”, it was small things like this that he knew made Derek a great leader.

“So” Derek said taking his seat once more. “I’m all ears, this is an open forum for you to put forward your suggestions and then the management team will meet this afternoon and decide on what strategy we are going to take” he explained.

The room fell silent.

“Do we have any volunteers to go first?” Peter Hale asked glancing around the people in the room expectantly. Stiles quickly ducked his head, his heart beating fast, he really didn’t want to be there right now. How stupid was he to think he could come up with something that would actually work? Derek was right, he had a whole team of experts in this area. What was he doing here? He was going to make a fool out of himself.

\---

Stiles was fortunate enough not to be called upon to give his idea, well not at first anyway. He listened intently to several suggestions and didn’t think any of them were going to work – not with the little stock they had.

“So anyone else?” Peter said glancing around the room. “No? Well thank you all for -”

“Hang on” Derek said interrupting. “Stiles don’t you have something to put forward?” he asked. Stiles’s stomach curled in knots.

“The intern Derek?” Peter said to his nephew. “This is rather unprecedented.”

“As I said this is an open forum” Derek replied firmly. “Anyone is welcome to submit ideas, so Stiles?” he asked looking rather hopeful.

Stiles swallowed hard. “Well yes I did have one thought” he said stepping forward and un-zipping his portfolio. He pulled out several mock-adverts and spread them across the table.

A woman Stiles knew to be high up in the marketing department shrivelled her nose up. “Oh no this won’t do, it’s not in line with the Alpha Fitness brand.”

“You want to give the only stock we have away for free?” Peter questioned through narrowed eyes as he leant across the table. “Are you trying to bankrupt us boy?”

“Hold on” Derek said defensively. “You haven’t given Stiles a chance to explain, Stiles the floor is yours.”

Stiles cleared his throat. “Well …uh” he struggled, he glanced around the room and knew he was losing them. Stiles cleared his throat again – time to make it or break it he told himself. “We have 3000 units, barely a profit in that – am I right?” he said glancing at Peter and Derek, both who nodded in confirmation. They knew the only way to make decent profit was to mass produce to lower production costs and maximise profits. “So even if you sell all 3000 units at full cost you will barely make a buck. What we need to do is to give the products away for free, get the customer hype up so that they’re desperate to get hold of one once we’ve got the stock. We give away 50-100 units to celebrity endorsers and social media influencers and then advertise that there are only a limited number available before the holidays. This will create a sense of buyer urgency and I guarantee you will see a rise in pre-orders which you can fulfil once you have the stock. This is a relatively new marketing strategy for a lot of tech firms and has been proven to be successful, but its completely transferable to products like this.”

When Stiles was finished, he glanced around the room – the majority of the people didn’t exactly look pleased and some even looked downright disapproving of his idea. Stiles glanced over at Derek whose eyebrows rose slightly but Stiles couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad sign. He glanced at the woman who had made the remarks about his mock adverts. “These were just for demonstration” he said gesturing to the print outs. “I am more than happy to liase with you to get them on brand” he told her. “If this idea is taken up of course” he said glancing back at Derek.

“Well we will decide what course of action to take tonce the board have congregated and discussed all of the proposals put forward here today” Peter said. “Unless there is anyone else who would like to put forward any further suggestions, I suggest we bring this meeting to a close.”

Derek nodded in agreement. The room was once more filled with commotion as the people all started to leave.

“Stiles hold on a second” Derek said holding him back before he could escape out of the room. Stiles felt his skin grow hot at Derek’s touch. “What are your thoughts?” Derek asked letting go and perching on the edge of the boardroom desk.

“My thoughts?” Stiles questioned.

Derek nodded. “You’re like an open book, you can’t hide what you’re thinking from showing on your face” he told Stiles. “I could see you didn’t approve of some of those suggestions?”

“Oh that’s not for me to say, they have way more experience in this field than I do” Stiles said shaking his head.

“I’m interested to hear what you think” Derek told him.

Stiles sighed. Clearly he wasn’t going to take now for an answer.

\---

“Nice job on the photos this morning” Lydia said to Stiles; she was on her lunch break and supposed to be going out with Jackson but he was running late so she had therefore decided to pester Stiles and the other interns. “You’re up to 3000 likes, that’s pretty decent.”

“Photos?” Alison queried.

Lydia pulled out her phone and scrolled through he instagram feed. “I present to you one Derek Hale” she said passing the phone over.

Alison took it and turned a dark shade of pink the moment she glanced at the picture looking particularly handsome. “Oh my …” she said before handing back the phone. Scott just rolled his eyes at her. “I can see why that one was so popular, you really have a gift with that camera Stiles” Alison told him.

“Helps when you’ve got a good-looking guy to photograph” Stiles replied. “Some of my finest work I think” he chuckled. “The one of him pulling this stupid face did well too, I think people like his personality” he said pointing to the picture of Derek deliberately pulling an over-exaggerated model pose that was currently up on his screen.

“You’re one smart cookie” Lydia said patting Stiles on the shoulder. “Just what this company needs, especially after this whole problem at the factory. I'm sure they're going to snap up your idea this afternoon.” Stiles just shrugged – he hadn’t heard anything yet about what was going to happen since Derek and the board weren’t meeting until later that day. He had however heard a few remarks about his idea from some of the other employees and not all of them were kind.

“He actually tries out all the equipment personally, can you believe that?” Scott said to Alison as they watched Stiles upload several shots of Derek trying out a new treadmill the company had developed and were about to supply to a large chain of gyms across the city.

“And the clothes, nothing goes on the website that he hasn’t tired and approved himself” Lydia replied as she sipped her coffee. "I think that's great."

“And he insists on doing it in a glass office in front of all these women, yeah I’m sure it’s all about the product” Scott replied with a roll of his yes. Stiles just chuckled as he flicked through the photos on his camera.

Lydia couldn’t help but notice there were quite a few of Derek when he’d stripped off a shirt and pulled on a clean one, but she said nothing – it was rather sweet that Stiles clearly had a crush on their boss. “Come on you can’t be that blind?” she said to Scott.

“About what?” Scott asked.

“Well let’s just say an office full of women would not bother Derek Hale in the slightest” Lydia whispered before getting up and straightening her skirt.

Scott frowned before he realised what she was getting at. "Oh I see" he mumbled embarrassed. 

Stiles was unable to stop a smile from forming on his face. “So he bats for my team then? Interesting …”

“He’s taken sweetie, plus you’re not exactly his type” Lydia told him. “No offence, you’re cute and everything but the guy he’s with is smoking hot” she added with a wink.

“And how do you know I’m not taken myself?” Stiles asked her.

“Well are you?” Lydia asked.

“Not exactly” Stiles replied. Lydia just smiled. “So who is this lucky guy then?” Stiles asked as he deleted the pictures he didn’t need on his camera anymore (somewhat regretfully).

“You seriously don’t know?” Lydia replied; she glanced at Scott and Alison who both also clearly had no idea.

“No, should I?” Stiles asked.

“Well yeah, especially if you are going to be running his social media profile” Lydia said picking up one of her magazines, she flipped through it before finding the page she wanted and handing it to Stiles.

“Jordan Parish?” Stiles said in surprise as he glanced at the article. “As in the actor?”

“The one and only, so you can imagine the press are really enjoying this at the moment” Lydia replied with a roll of her eyes.

“I bet” Stiles replied thoughtfully. To be honest he was quite stunned – he thought Derek was single and just married to his work. He had the worse work-life balance of anyone he’d ever met. And as for Jordan being in one of the hottest shows on TV right now he must not have that much spare time either. When did they see each other? he wondered. He was about to ask more questions, but Lydia had gone off to meet Jackson. “Jordan Parish eh?” he said to Scott and Alison who looked just as surprised as he did.

\---

Later that evening Stiles was working at his desk; Alison, Scott and Lydia had already left for home and the office was relatively quiet. The board had adjourned a few hours previously but had told the staff they would not be making any announcements until the following day. Lydia who had been taking minutes during the meeting hadn’t been able to say much but she did say that there were some long debates. Stiles hoped they would take up his idea, even though he was just an intern, because he was confident it would work.

Derek headed over to Stiles's desk, a man Stiles recognised as Jordan Parish at his side. “Well done today” Derek said with a smile as he laid his hand on his shoulder. “I just wanted to say I am heading out this evening so I won’t need you to drive me home.”

“Okay great, I’ll pick you up in the morning then” Stiles told him.

Derek smiled. “This is the address where I’ll be” he said handing a card to Stiles – clearly this was Jordan’s address. Stiles pocketed the card. Derek glanced between Stiles and Jordan and quickly realised he should introduce them. Stiles and Jordan exchanged a quick hand-shake. “So are you going anywhere nice?” Stiles asked politely.

“A new vegan restaurant has just opened up, two Michelin stars” Jordan replied. “Everyone is raving about it.”

“Oh fancy” Stiles said with a smile, though he wasn’t sure he could do with all that pomp and ceremony. “Well enjoy.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “The food is good in those sorts of places, but you usually end up needing a burger on the way home because the portions are tiny.”

Stiles and Derek both laughed at this but Jordan looked rather put out. “Well you certainly won’t be wanting a burger, not with all that fat and grease” Jordan said shaking his head. “You need to think of your waistline Derek.”

“Oh come on you can’t be serious!” Stiles said finding this ridiculous, Derek didn’t have a single ounce of fat on him - the guy was in ridiculous shape. Stiles quickly realised it wasn’t his place to say anything. “I mean, a burger every now and then doesn’t hurt” he added quietly.

Jordan sucked in his breath, and Stiles could tell he was very displeased. “Well we can’t all be like you Stiles, some of us have to keep an eye on what we eat to keep in shape” he said glancing pointedly at the candy wrappers on Stiles desk.

Stiles flushed slightly. “Well have a good evening” he said getting up and quickly walking off – his blood boiling. He really did not like this Jordan guy. Sure he was good looking but other than that he couldn’t see what Derek saw in him.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Stiles followed the sat-nav to the address Derek had given him, he pulled up outside a rather splendid looking house located in a very posh neighbourhood of the city. “Wow” he whispered under his breath as he glanced up at the house. Though he wasn’t sure why he was surprised, with Jordan being the celebrity that he was.

The front door opened, Stiles averted his eyes and pretended to be adjusting the rear-view mirror when he saw Jordan and Derek exchange a few words at the doorstep before sharing goodbye kiss. He couldn't help but notice a flash of camera from paparazzi lurking nearby. A moment or two later Derek climbed into the back of the car. “Good morning” Derek said as he buckled up.

Stiles noticed that he practically devoured the banana he’d left for him in the back of the car. “Hungry this morning?” he asked glancing behind him.

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I was right about the restaurant – the food was great, but the portions were pretty small.”

“And I take it you didn’t get your burger afterwards?” Stiles asked with a slight grin.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately not” he sighed.

Stiles started the engine. “So…” he said with a smile. “Do you want to be a little naughty and get a more satisfying breakfast?” he asked glancing at Derek through the rear-view mirror with a raised eyebrow.

Derek’s eyes darted across Stiles’s and found himself smiling in response. “I’m not sure I like the wicked smile you have on your face right now” he confessed “but call me intrigued?”

“I know this great little drive-in, they do amazing pancakes and waffles” Stiles told him.

“I’m salivating at the thought” Derek replied, his stomach rumbling in anticipation. “But only on one condition” he said leaning forward and fixing Stiles’s eyes. Stiles rose an eyebrow, silently prompting Derek to continue. “You don’t tell Jordan.”

Stiles grinned. “Cross my heart” he nodded before setting off.

A short while later they were pulled up in the drive-in with polystyrene trays of waffles drizzled in maple syrup and covered in fresh fruit on their laps. Derek had moved into the front seat and they had the radio on. “This is heaven” he said closing his eyes and laying his head back against the headrest. He moaned so happily in contentment it was almost pornographic. Stiles glanced over and smiled, he certainly could get used to this he found himself thinking. There was just something about Derek he was drawn to, and it just felt good to be around him. “Although I can’t even begin to think of the calories” Derek said as he chased up the leftover syrup with his finger tip.

Stiles had to look away as he sucked the tip of his finger, didn’t the guy know what effect this was having on him? “Nothing a good work-out won’t cure I’m sure” he replied.

“Oh yeah?” Derek smiled teasingly. “So what’s your routine then?” he asked glancing over at Stiles.

Stiles shook his head. “Oh no not me! No need I just stay the same size no matter what I eat" he said patting his flat stomach. "I can still fit into t-shirts I had when I was a teenager.”

Derek laughed. “Well you sure are blessed in that respect, but you could use a little more meat on your bones, call this a bicep?” he said squeezing the top of Stiles’s arm playfully. 

Stiles knew that he was just teasing him. “Yes, and I’m quite proud of it actually” he replied with a pout. “I may be small but I’m perfectly formed” he added lifting his arm and flexing. Derek laughed, put down his container and did the same. “Well now you’re just showing off” Stiles said with a tut and playful shake of his head. But my God did he take the chance to admire Derek’s arms.

After they finished showing off to each other, they settled back into their seats and drank down the remainder of their coffee. “I wish I’d heard of this place sooner” Derek said glancing over at the little diner. “Actually, that’s probably not a good idea” he chuckled, thinking of the effect it would have on his waistline.

Stiles smiled as he sipped at his coffee. “So boss, am I going to be in trouble for being late to work now?” he asked glancing at Derek and smiling coyly.

“I think I can forgive you on this occasion” Derek replied returning the smile.

\----

When they arrived back at the office the two went their separate ways, Stiles to his desk and Derek to get his usual morning shower and change of clothes. Stiles checked through his emails and was surprised to find one from Peter Hale requesting a meeting later that morning. Stiles accepted, wondering what the meeting was about. There had been no discussion over work during his breakfast with Derek and Stiles daren’t bring up the problem at the factory; he had assumed that since Derek hadn’t said anything that his idea hadn’t been accepted – but this email from Peter was a positive sign.

The morning passed relatively un-eventfully, that was until Stiles was called to his meeting with Peter. “So” Peter said gesturing for Stiles to take a seat as he stepped into his office. “Derek had put me in charge of the operation to save the mess of this new product launch.”

“Okay” Stiles said wondering what this meant for him.

“And he seems hellbent on going with your idea despite my better judgement” Peter added with a sigh.

Stiles’s eyes snapped up and fixed on Peter’s. “He does?” he asked in surprise, Derek hadn’t mentioned a word. Why not? “Well that’s great!” he exclaimed happily. However, one look at Peter and Stiles could tell he wasn’t convinced. “I really do believe this will work” he implored.

“Well it had better” Peter replied. “Because it’s both our necks on the line if it doesn’t” he grumbled. “So tell me more about this idea of your's then” he said sitting back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head.

\----

Half-an-hour later, Stiles left the meeting with Peter with a monstrous to-do list and so hastily made his way back to his desk; he quickly filled an eager looking Scott and Allison with the news who were beyond pleased for him.

“If there is anything I can do to help just say the word” Allison told him.

“Same here, and don’t look so worried you’ve got this buddy” Scott said slapping him on the shoulder as he headed off to sort out another mail delivery.

Stiles looked down at his note-book and took a deep breath. “I’ve got this” he told himself. He really hoped he had because he wanted to prove himself to the company. To Derek.

\----

Driving Derek home later that night Stiles wanted to discuss his marketing strategy, but his boss seemed deep in thought as he studied his emails on his tablet. Stiles remained silent, perhaps Derek had delegated the job to Peter for a reason he considered. But it seemed unlikely that Derek wouldn’t want to be involved and besides according to Peter he’d pushed for them to accept his idea in the first place. The silence of the car was broken at the sound of Derek’s mobile ringing.

“Laura hi” Derek answered.

Stiles listened to Derek’s half of the conversation and managed to work out that it was his sister calling, asking Derek if he was free tomorrow. Derek told her he was slammed wall to wall with meetings and sounded rather depressed about the whole situation. He finished the call with a deep sigh. “Anything I can do?” Stiles asked glancing at him through the rear-view mirror.

Derek shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not.”

“Your sister?” Stiles asked as he drew to a halt outside Derek’s home. No Jordan tonight then he couldn’t help find himself thinking, and finding himself quite pleased at this thought.

Derek put away his tablet in his case. “Yeah, she’s coming into town tomorrow to go dress shopping with my youngest sister, it’s her first school dance on Friday.”

“And you can’t join them?” Stiles asked.

“No” Derek sighed once more. “As much as I’d love to.” Stiles watched as Derek glanced over at his front door, he paused for a moment before gathering up his belongings and Stiles was sure he wanted to say more but held himself back. “Well have a good evening Stiles, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sure, goodnight Derek” Stiles smiled reassuringly.

Derek smiled back, although it was half-hearted, and then climbed out.

\-----

The next morning Stiles headed to the reception to see Lydia about Derek’s diary and to get a contact number for his sister – surely there was a way they could free up sometime time even just an hour so he could go out with his family. Stiles just hoped he wouldn’t find it too interfering.

“Working hard I see” Stiles said leaning over the reception desk to find Lydia looking through a magazine.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Just keeping up with the boss, I’m sure you could classify it as work” she said handing the magazine over to Stiles. Stiles glanced down to see some paparazzi shots of Derek and Jordan heading into the restaurant they went to the other night.

“Yeah I’m not sure many would agree with you on that one” Stiles laughed.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Don’t take your jealousy out on me” she muttered under her breath.

“Me jealous?” Stiles laughed. “You’re crazy.”

Lydia just smiled to herself before picking up a nail-file and running it over her fingers. “So? What do you want?” she asked impolitely. “Do you need something? Or are you just hear to bug me?”

Stiles laughed. “Well luckily for you it’s a bit of both.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Oh go on then since it's you" she replied.

\---

Later than morning Derek was at his desk going over some paperwork he needed to sign with Lydia. “And that’s the last one” Lydia said picking up the papers and putting them back into her files. “I’ll get those sent off today for you.”

“Thanks Lydia” Derek smiled up at her.

“Oh and right on time too” Lydia said glancing up as the office door opened.

“Laura! What are you doing here?” Derek said getting up from his desk and heading over to give his elder sister a hug.

“You and I are going to take our little munchkin dress shopping” Laura said drawing back and glancing over at their youngest sister, Cora, who was currently perched on the edge of Stiles’s desk eating a candy bar that Stiles had magically produced from his desk drawer.

Derek’s face fell. “I’m sorry Lor I’m just so swamped at the minute I thought I explained that last night” he said with a sad sigh.

“You did but you have an hour and a half free from now so come on the clock is ticking” Laura told him, practically dragging him out of his office.

Derek frowned. “I do?” he queried, he was sure he had wall-to-wall meetings booked.

Derek glanced over at Lydia who nodded. “Yes your friendly neighbourhood intern has sorted it all out for you” she told him as they approached Stiles’s desk to collect Cora.

Stiles blushed slightly upon hearing this. “Well I just moved a few things around in your diary” he said. “It was nothing really.”

Derek whole face brightened, he turned to his youngest sister. “Looks like we are going dress shopping afterall” he declared. “Thanks Stiles I owe you one” he said placing his hand on his shoulder.

“Not a problem” Stiles replied practically glowing.

Laura and Lydia exchanged a knowing look.

\---

“Your intern has a crush on you” Laura said elbowing her brother playfully as they walked through the office together with Cora. “It’s rather cute actually.”

“Stiles?” Derek said glancing back through the office at his intern who was busy talking with Lydia. “I don’t think so. I think it's Lydia, they are always teasing each other.”

Laura just rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I know and Lydia knows too.”

“Well I’m with Jordan” Derek replied glancing back at Stiles again – he didn’t? Did he? Derek’s eyes went rogue and ran over Stiles’s face and down his neck, his collar bones, his chest. He quickly averted his eyes when he caught himself.

Laura chuckled. “Sorry I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers” she said noticing Derek’s eyes tearing away from Stiles to look very hard and the elevator buttons.

“You haven’t” replied Derek somewhat defensively.

“I like Stiles, he drew me a cartoon” Cora said handing a piece of paper to Derek.

Derek glanced at the drawing, it was of him, Laura and Cora – he was really rather talented, and then it all made sense when he remembered Stiles had told him he’d majored in animation and graphic design. “That’s great Cor” he said handing back the drawing. “Keep hold of it, Stiles might be famous one day.”

Cora tucked the piece of paper into her pocket. “I’ll keep it safe” she told him as they stepped into the lift.

Derek jabbed the button to close the doors, his eyes betraying him once more and sweeping over Stiles before the doors closed and the lift carried them downwards.


End file.
